Study suggests smoking while pregnant may increase chromosomal abnormalities in fetal cells
A preliminary report suggests that maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with increased chromosomal abnormalities in fetal cells, according to a study in the March 9 issue of ....... Maternal smoking during pregnancy has many consequences during and after pregnancy, such as infertility, coagulation problems, obstetric complications such as extrauterine pregnancy and placenta previa, an...Investigational transplant drug effectively preserves kidneys while avoiding toxic side effects
ATLANTA Physician-researchers at Emory University in Atlanta have shown an investigational medication, known as LEA29Y (belatacept), is effective in preserving transplanted kidney function while at the same time avoiding the toxic side effects that are common in the currently used long-term, immunosuppressive transplant medications. The pre-clinical research conducted with nonhuman primates at t...Press advisory: White House Conference on Aging Forum
The 2005 White House Conference on Aging and The Gerontological Society of America. Local sponsors include The Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, Civic Ventures, and the Phoenix Public Library. Support is provided by The Atlantic Philanthropies....... A public forum and official 2005 White House Conference on Aging (WHCoA) event to gather information on the involvement of older Americans...Gaining health while giving back to the community
Older adults who volunteer in troubled urban schools not only improve the educational experience of children, but realize meaningful improvements in their own mental and physical health, say researchers at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions.... ...The Hopkins investigators base their conclusion on the first randomized clinical trial testing the health benefits of participating in an establis...Rat whisking may provide insight into debilitating eye disorder
Physicists at the University of California, San Diego have discovered a neural circuit in rats that could provide a powerful model for understanding a neurological condition known as blepharospasm--uncontrolled eye blinking that affects 50,000 people in the U.S. and leaves some patients functionally blind.... ...In the February 3 issue of the journal Neuron, the researchers, Quoc-Thang Nguyen and...Hands-on or hands-free, using a cell phone while driving is not safe, researchers find
SANTA MONICA, CA -- Ninety percent of cell phone owners report that they use the phone while driving, according to a report published in 1999. Another report from 2003 indicates that cell phone distraction results in 2,600 deaths, 330,000 injuries, and 1.5 million instances of property damage in the United States each year. Can hands-free devices reduce accidents, fatalities, or damage? No, say h...Shepherds whistle while they work and brains process sounds as language
The human brain's remarkable flexibility to understand a variety of signals as language extends to an unusual whistle language used by shepherds on one of the Canary Islands off the northwest coast of Africa. ... And the way the brain processes these whistles is similar to the way it goes about deciphering English, Spanish or other spoken languages, according to research being published in tomo...Getting pregnant while on the pill: Yet another health hazard of being overweight
SEATTLE ? Overweight and obese women who take oral contraceptives are 60 percent to 70 percent more likely to get pregnant while on the birth-control pill, respectively, than women of lower weight, according to new findings from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center that will be published in the January issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology. ...The study, led by epidemiologist Victoria Holt, Ph.D.,...MDCT angiography can potentially help determine which patients are at greater risk of stroke
MDCT angiography can potentially help determine which patients with narrowed...carotid arteries are at greater risk of having a stroke, a new study shows....This information could help identify which patients need surgery and which...can be treated with less invasive procedures. ......The study reviewed 31 patients who had greater than 60% carotid artery...stenosis18 had symptoms of carotid arte...Tamoxifen's risks similar in African American and white women
African American and white women who are treated with tamoxifen for breast cancer appear to have the same risks of contralateral breast cancer and thromboembolic events, according to a new study in the December 1 issue of the ...... Between 2% and 15% of women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer will develop contralateral breast cancer--cancer in the opposite breast--depending on age and...FDA tried to discredit whistleblower over drug safety claims
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tried to discredit one of its own experts after he told a US Senate hearing that the FDA had failed to protect the public over rofecoxib (Vioxx), according to two articles published online by the BMJ today.... ...Dr David Graham, Associate Director in the FDA's Office of Drug Safety, said that the FDA was "incapable of protecting America against another Viox...Study helps define headaches of whiplash
If you happen to be looking left or right when your car is rear-ended, you could be lucky enough to avoid the headache of whiplash. A new study at the University of Alberta shows that whiplash injuries in low-speed accidents are much less likely if the victim's head happens to be turned to either side instead of facing front when the vehicle is struck....... The research involving neck muscles is...Research explores why some internationally adopted children excel while others struggle
Over the past decade, U.S. citizens have adopted more foreign born children (150,000) than the citizens of any other country. Prominent among the developmental issues faced by these children is language delay, which can be compounded by medical problems, according to a panel of experts who will present their findings today at the American Speech, Language and Hearing Association meeting in Philad...Determining which pancreatic cancers are treatable
INDIANAPOLIS -- A high-quality computed tomography (CT) scan is just as successful in predicting whether pancreatic cancer is treatable surgically as a more invasive diagnostic tool, according to an Indiana University School of Medicine study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.... ...Approximately 30,700 cases of pancreatic cancer are diagnosed annually in the United States. Each year...Pitt researchers identify biomarkers of lupus which could lead to quicker and better diagnosis
PITTSBURGH, Nov. 4 University of Pittsburgh researchers have identified biomarkers that could result in earlier and more accurate diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a devastating disease that affects as many as 1.5 million Americans, and occurs 10 to 15 times more frequently in women.... ...The results are published in the November 2004 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism.... ..."Th...White physicians slower to prescribe HIV medications for African-Americans than for whites
A new UCLA study shows that African-American HIV patients treated by white doctors receive life-saving HIV medication less than those who have an African-American doctor. ...... "Does Racial Concordance Between HIV-Positive Patients and Their Physicians Affect the Time to Receipt of Protease Inhibitors?" is published in the November issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine. ...... The cl...Blacks report better sexual, urinary function after prostate surgery than whites
LOS ANGELES (Oct. 13)-Five years after surgery for prostate cancer, African-American men reported better sexual and urinary function than non-Latino white men-yet they were also more dissatisfied with problems related to their sexual function, according to researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and colleagues.... ...Investigators report the latest re...Listening in on the whispering heart
A new implantable device that could send an early-warning signal to your doctor before heart rhythm problems arise, may now be possible thanks to research described in the latest issue of the Institute of Physics journal, Physiological Measurement....... More than five million people worldwide have been diagnosed with the heart disorder atrial fibrillation (AF). In AF, the upper chambers of the h...Government psoriasis research funding down over last decade while NIH budget up 148%
Portland, Ore., May 17, 2004 Armed with statistics showing psoriasis research funding languished as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) enjoyed record budget increases, the National Psoriasis Foundation released its 2004 legislative agenda today as its members gathered in Washington, DC to meet with Congressional offices. The top policy goal of the Psoriasis Foundation will be to secure addi...Spanking a risk factor for behavior problems among white children
White children who are more frequently spanked before age two are at greater risk for having behavior problems by the time they reach elementary school when compared to those who were not. However, the same association does not appear to be true for African-American or Hispanic children, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The study is among...Development of rare esophageal cancer in African-Americans may differ from whites
The development of an aggressive but rare type of esophageal cancer in African-Americans may follow a different path than the same disease in whites, and is more likely to be fatal, according to results of a study by researchers at Johns Hopkins....... Whites who develop the cancer, called esophageal adenocarcinoma, usually develop an abnormal lining of their throat condition called Barrett's met...Gene mutations predict which lung cancers will respond to Iressa
Researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center have discovered a molecular marker that identifies lung cancer patients whose tumors will respond to treatment with the drug Iressa (gefitinib). Their findings, which will be published in the May 20 New England Journal of Medicine, are being released online today to coincide with the online release by Science of related rese...Mexican Americans at greater risk for stroke than non-Hispanic whites
SAN FRANCISCO The first comparison study of stroke risk among Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites has shown that Mexican Americans experience a substantially greater incidence of stroke. Overall, depending on age, Mexican Americans had between 15 and 110 percent higher stroke risk compared with non-Hispanic whites. Study details and conclusions will be presented at the American Academy of...Valve disease impacts survival while awaiting heart transplant
More and more, physicians are using the left ventricular assist device, or LVAD, to sustain patients who are awaiting heart transplants. The surgically implanted mechanical device takes over for weak and diseased hearts, acting as a bridge to transplant surgery. For the LVAD to work optimally, however, the aortic valve, which releases oxygen-rich blood from the heart into the body, must be free...WHI study finds no heart disease benefit, increased stroke risk with estrogen alone
A large, multi-center heart disease prevention study, part of the Womens Health Initiative (WHI), found that estrogen-alone hormone therapy had no effect on coronary heart disease risk but increased the risk of stroke for postmenopausal women. The study also found that estrogen-alone therapy significantly increased the risk of deep vein thrombosis, had no significant effect on the risk of breast...Leading causes of blindness for blacks and whites different
CHICAGO The leading cause of blindness for white persons is age-related macular degeneration (AMD), while the leading causes of blindness for blacks are cataracts and glaucoma, according to an article in the April issue of , a theme issue on blindness, and one of the JAMA/Archives journals....... AMD is a disorder of the retina that affects mostly older people and causes gradual vision loss. C...Bright clothing and white helmets cut motorcycle deaths
Wearing reflective clothing, a white or light coloured helmet, and using headlights during the day can reduce serious injuries or death from motorcycle crashes by up to one third, according to research from New Zealand in this week's BMJ. ...... The study included 463 motorcycle drivers involved in crashes leading to hospital treatment or death and a further 1,233 motorcycle drivers randomly sele...Doctor attacks South African government for failing women while spending billions on arms deals
Hamburg, Germany: A leading South African cancer doctor has attacked his country's government for wasting money on "luxuries" such as defence while failing to implement a basic breast screening policy that could prevent many women dying from cancer....... Professor Justus Apffelstaedt told the 4th European Breast Cancer Conference that, while billions of rand are being spent by the government's D...Data shows new drug, rimonabant, helps smokers quit while limiting post cessation weight gain
Cincinnati, OH, March 9, 2004 - C Researchers at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine presented results of one of the largest smoking cessation trials ever conducted in the United States, STRATUS-US (STudies with Rimonabant And Tobacco USe). The findings show that a new drug, rimonabant, doubled the odds of quitting smoking compared with placebo, markedly reduced post-cessation weigh...'White coat hypertension' common among sleep apnea patients
(NORTHBROOK, IL, March 8, 2004) Patients with sleep apnea may be commonly misdiagnosed with hypertension, says a study published in the March issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians. In the study, one third of patients with sleep apnea who were physician-diagnosed with hypertension actually had "white coat hypertension" (WCH), a condition character...Whites, blacks respond similarly to common blood pressure drugs
Whites and blacks respond similarly to all common blood pressure drugs, according to a new study in the March 2004 issue of Hypertension, a journal of the American Heart Association. While several previous studies have tended to emphasize the differences in response to blood pressure medication by race, this new investigation systematically examined all clinical trials from the last 20 years and...U.S. blacks five times as likely as whites to progress to kidney failure
It's long been known that black Americans are four to five times as likely as white Americans to suffer from kidney disease that is severe enough to require dialysis or transplantation. Now a new study conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC) shows that rates of early kidney disease do not differ between the two gr...St. Jude leukemia therapy overcomes differences in treatment outcome between black, white children
(MEMPHIS, TENN.--October 14, 2003) Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have found that black children are equally likely as white children to benefit from improved treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), if given equal access to the most advanced therapies.... ... This finding--that black and white children had virtually equal rates of survival over 10 years--contrast...The Gerontological Society of America confers 2003 Mentorship Award to Amherst's Whitbourne
The Gerontological Society of America has chosen Dr. Susan Krauss Whitbourne of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst's Psychology Department to receive its 2003 Award for the Distinguished Mentorship in Gerontology. This honor is given to individuals who have not only fostered excellence in the field, but have made a major impact by virtue of their mentoring, and whose inspiration is sought...'Genetic switch' proves two mechanisms exist by which immune system cells differentiate
The thymus, a once overlooked glandular structure just behind the top of the sternum, has gained increasing attention from scientists in the past two decades because it is where disease-fighting T-cells mature.... ...Especially in AIDS patients, T-cell count is a relative indicator of the body's ability to fight disease. Until recently, however, researchers have understood little about how T-cell...White blood cell plays key role in body's excessive repair response to asthma
Researchers in London and Montreal report today that they have discovered an important link in the development of the body's response to allergic asthma.... ...They have found that one type of white blood cell, an eosinophil, which was known to cause inflammation of lung airways, is also responsible for driving the process which leads to an excessive 'repair response' by the body. ... ...The resp...Talented Hokies research brain impacts while battling Aggies
Blacksburg, Va. -- While they were busy overpowering the Texas A&M Aggies on Sept. 18 in Lane Stadium, the Virginia Tech Hokies became the first athletes in the world to test a new brain injury monitoring system....... Every year in the United States, thousands of athletes suffer traumatic brain injuries. Virginia Tech researchers and sports medicine professionals have launched the monitoring pr...Black women receive inadequate cardiac care compared to whites despite greater risk, study finds
Researchers have had few clues as to why Black women are more likely to die from heart attacks or strokes than white women. But, now a national study led by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC) indicates that the difference in cardiovascular-related deaths may be attributed, in part, to the inadequate medical care Black women receive from their health care providers..........Testing may one day pinpoint which early-stage cancer patients are at risk for relapse
(July 21, 2003) -- Philadelphia, PA -- The ability to diagnose cancer in its early stages has never been better. As many as 80 percent of those diagnosed with cancer today are told that their cancer has been detected early and can be removed. ... ...Yet among those with early-stage cancer, about half will experience a recurrence (relapse) following surgery because small, undetectable levels of it...ST. PAUL, MN -- The first observational study of whiplash injury to use a control group has shown that the intensity of whiplash pain is low, but its frequency is high, and compared to similar types of pain from ankle injury, it lasts longer and produces more disability. The study appears in the March 11 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology....... The st...